It was a full minute before Alex realized several things. She had her head down, staring at her hands, just as she’d done that day in the hospital, so many years before. No one had spoken. And there was no screaming in her mind, only bone-chilling silence. Daniel covered her hands with his and squeezed lightly, giving her the strength to lift her eyes and then her chin until she looked Craig Crighton full in the face.
He was old. Haggard. Years of drug use and living on the streets had dulled his eyes. But he stared at her just as Gary Fulmore had, and Alex realized he was seeing Alicia. Or maybe even her mother. “Craig,” she said evenly, and he jumped, startled.
“You’re not her,” he mumbled.
“No, I’m not. I know what you did,” she said, still evenly, and Craig’s eyes narrowed.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Agent Vartanian.” Alex looked over to where a young man in a blue suit sat next to a stylish blonde in a black suit. The young man had spoken. Alex recognized the blonde as state attorney Chloe Hathaway from the times Hathaway had visited Daniel in the hospital. Alex’s assumption that the young man was Craig’s defense attorney was quickly confirmed. “What are you hoping to get from this meeting? My client has been charged with the murder of Sister Anne Chambers. Surely you aren’t expecting him to implicate himself in another murder.”
“Just to talk,” Daniel said easily. “Perhaps to clear up a few points from the past.”
“I know your client killed my mother,” Alex said, proud her voice didn’t tremble. “And while I’d like to see him punished, I know he won’t admit it. I would like to know, however, what happened next.”
“You took a bottle of pills,” Craig said coldly.
“I don’t think so,” Alex replied. “If you gave them to me, I’d like to know.”
“If he gave them to you,” Craig’s attorney said smoothly, “that would have been attempted murder. You can’t expect him to admit to that either.”
“I won’t press charges,” Alex said.
“You wouldn’t have a choice,” Chloe Hathaway said. “If Mr. Crighton tried to kill you by giving you an overdose of pills, I’d have to prosecute.”
“But you could work something out, couldn’t you, Chloe?” Daniel asked.
“Reduced charges on the nun?” Craig’s lawyer asked cagily and Alex’s temper blew.
She stood up, trembling now, but from rage. “No. Absolutely no. I will not sacrifice justice for Sister Anne just to soothe my pride.” She leaned across the table until she was eye to eye with Crighton. “You killed my mother and your son raped my sister. He tried to rape me and you never did a thing to stop him. If I did take those pills, I’m not ashamed. You took away everything I loved then. You won’t take my self-respect now.” She looked at Chloe Hathaway. “I’m sorry you were bothered to come, but we’re done.”
“Alex,” Daniel murmured. “Sit down. Please.” His large hand covered her back, tugging her until she sat back down. “Chloe?”
“Immunity on the attempted murder charge, but nothing on the nun’s murder.”
Craig’s lawyer laughed. “So this is basically a good deed? No thank you.”
Daniel was giving Craig his coldest stare. “Consider it penance for killing a nun.”
They sat in silence until Alex could bear it no longer. She stood up. “My mother didn’t kill you when she had the chance. Call it fear or panic or mercy, the result is the same. You’re here and she’s not, because you were afraid your secret would be found out. But guess what? It would have come out sooner or later anyway. Secrets have a tendency to do that. I lost my mother, but you lost, too. You lost Bailey and Wade and your life as you knew it. I have my life. Even if your attorney manages to get you out of here someday, you’ll never get your life back. Knowing that will be enough.”
She’d walked to the door when Craig stopped her.
“You didn’t take the pills. I gave them to you.”
She turned around slowly. “How?” she asked as neutrally as she was able.
“We ground them up, put them in water. When you came to, we made you drink it.”
“We?”
“Wade and I. He didn’t want to, for what it’s worth.”
Alex walked back to the table to face him. “And the pills you put in my hand the day Kim came to take me home?” she asked, and he dropped his gaze.
“I hoped either you’d take them or Kim would find them and turn me in. That’s all.”
It was enough. “If you ever get out, you stay away from Hope and Bailey.”
He nodded once. “Take me back.”
The guard took Craig away, his lawyer following. Chloe Hathaway gave Alex an appraising look. “I wouldn’t have given him an inch on the nun. Just so you know.”
Alex smiled thinly. “Thank you for the immunity. It’s good to know the truth.” When the SA was gone, Alex turned to Daniel. “And thank you for making me come. I really did need to know.”
He stood and put his arm around her. “I know you did. I wouldn’t have cared either way, but you needed to know. Now all the secrets that were, aren’t. Let’s go home.”
Home
. To Daniel’s house with its comfortable living room, the pool table and the bar with
Dogs Playing Poker,
and the bedroom with his big bed. It would be the first time Daniel had been home since he’d been shot, and heat spread within her at the thought of no longer sleeping in his big bed alone.
Then she remembered the state in which she’d left his house and winced. “Um, as long as we’re baring truths, I have a small confession. Hope fed Riley.”
Daniel groaned. “Where?”
“In the living room. I called Luke’s mama and she’s sending Luke’s cousin. He has his own carpet-cleaning business. It should be clean before we get back.”
He sat in the wheelchair with a sigh. “Any more secrets or confessions?”
She laughed, the sound surprising her. “Nope, I think we’re good. Let’s go home.”
K
AREN
R
OSE
is an award-winning author who fell in love with books from the time she learned to read. She started writing stories of her own when the characters in her head started talking and just wouldn’t be silenced. A former chemical engineer and high school chemistry and physics teacher, Karen lives in Florida with her husband of twenty years, their two children, and the family cat, Bella. When she’s not writing, Karen is practicing for her next karate belt test! Karen would be thrilled to receive your e-mail at [email protected].